Geographlcol Dlmif!ut/ons
": - ~ Trachy/epis sepremtaeniaJa. King Khalid Wildlife Research Centre, Thumamah. (photo: Peter Cunningham)
REPTILIA: SQUAMAT A, SERP ENT ES
COLUBRIDAE
Dlpsadoboa underwoodI Rasmussen, 1993 Underwood's Rear-fanged Tree-Snake
Cameroon, South-West Province, Mt. Cameroon area, Bakingili, 4" 4' 54.2"N, 9" l ' 39's"E; 140 m a.s.l.; 13 December 2005; V. Gvczdrk. Dipsadoboa underwoodi was described from Cameroon (type locality: Mukcn jefann, Mundame), where it predominantly occurs in lowland rain forests (Rasmussen 1993). The known distribution comprises the area from Guinea to Congo (Chippaux 2006). Recently, a comprehensive study of the reptile fauna of the Mt. Cameroon area was published (Gonwouo et al. 2007), and Dipsadoboa v, viridis was the only species of Dipsadoboa mentioned. However, Rasmussen
23 AFRICANHERP NEWS 45, JULY 2008
( 1989) listed also D. duchesnii from a locality from the Mt. Cameroon area (Mukundange), and further Rasmussen (1993) even examined several museum. specimens ofD. weileri and D. underwoodi from the area within his taxonomic re view ofthe genus (D. weileri: Bibundi, Buea, Idenau; D. underwoodi: Bibundi, Ide nau, Victoria = Limbe). Herein, a further report confirming a recent occurrence of D. underwoodi on the foothill ofMt. Cameroon near Bakingili village is presented. The snake, probably an adult male, was found after dusk on the ground in the leaf litter at the margin of disturbed lowland rain forest. It was photographed, mor phologically investigated, and later determined according to the keys ofRasmussen (1993) and Chippaux (2006). Basic morphological characterswere as follows: total length ea 520 mm (snout-vent length 400 mm, tail length 120 mm), 17 dorsal scale rows at mid-body, 195 ventrals , 87 subcaudals (single), anal shield single, frontal shield 1.3 times as long as broad (4 x 3 mm), large eyes - diameter of the eye 1.1 x the length of the snout (the latter was measured dorsally). The dorsal colour was brownish with fine yellow marbling or small dots, skin slightly opalescent. The belly was of bright yellow colour, the undersideof the tail was grey. Thus, D. underwoodt, D. weileri and D. duohesnii (cf. Rasmussen 1989, 1993; see also Chirio & LeBreton 2007) increase the number of known reptile species for the Mt. Cameroon area to at least 89 species (cf. Gonwouo er al. 2007 , 86 species). However, the real number could be probably even higher, as a presence ofD. uni color is also of a high probability since the species has been reported from Bioko Island and several places in the Cameroon mountain range (Rasmussen 1993). The presence of all the five above mentioned species sympatrically was reported by Herrmann et al. (2005) from Mt. Nlonako, Cameroon, which may suggest a possi ble multi-species sympatry ofDipsadoboa also in the Mt. Cameroon area. References CHIPPAUX, J.-P., 2006: Les serpents d'Afrique occidentale er centrale. Third edi tion. IRO, Paris. CHIR IO, L. & LEBRETON, M., 200 7: Atlas des reptiles du Cameroun. Museum na tional d' Histcire naturelie. lRO, Paris. GONWOUO, N. L., LEB RETON. M., CHIRlO, L., INEICH, I., TCHAMBA, N. M., NGAS SAM, P., DZIKOUK, G. & DIFFO, J. L., 2007: Biodiversity and conservation of the reptiles of the Mount Cameroon area. African Journal ofHerpetotogy. 56 (2): 149- 16 1. HERRMANN H.-W., BOHME W., EUSK IRCHEN 0 ., HERRMANN P. A. & SCHMITZ A., 2005 : African biodiversity hotspots: the reptiles of Mt Nlonako, Cameroon. Revue sulsse de Zoologie, 112(4): 1045-1069. RASMUSSEN, J. B., 1989. A taxonomic review of the Dipsadoboa duchesnei com plex. Banner zoologische BeitrIJge, 40(3-4): 249 -264 .
24 Geographical Distrtbiuions
RAsMUSSEN, J. B., 1993. A taxonomic review ofthe Dipsadoboa unicolor complex, including a phylogenetic analysis ofthe genus (Serpentes, Dipsadidae, Boigi nae).Steenstrupia, 19(4): 129-196. Submitted by vaclav cvozm«,National Museum, DepartmentofZoology, Veclavskenamesu 68, 115 79 Prague, Czech Republic; Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Academy ofSciences of the Czech Republic, 277 21 Libechcv, Czech Republic. E mail: [email protected].
Dipsadoboa underwoodi. Bakingili village, Mt. Cameroon area, Cameroon. (photo: Vaclav Gvo1clfk)
zs